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'Greening' old buildings increases sustainability

March 15, 2017

Illustration courtesy of Jetson Green

Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut recently devised a way to convert one of they city’s 1970’s apartment buildings into a sustainable complex. His plans, which still need approval, call for transforming the existing concrete structure into an energy producing building with a green façade, reports Jetson Green.

Callebaut would leave the building as is and add 274 planter beds into its ornamental façade. The beds would hold about 10,000 plants, carefully chosen by botanists, to create a sort of vertical garden or green façade, which would increase the building’s thermal performance and clean the air.

According to Callebaut’s calculations, the plants would capture 50 tons of C02 per year. The windows of the apartments would also have to be exchanged for energy saving ones to further improve the thermal performance of the building.

Callebaut also would a structure called the Chrysalis, which would be on the roof. A large solar panel array and 42 wind turbines would cover the top of the Chrysalis, which would produce an estimated 128,340 kWh of energy per year. This would offset the energy needs of the building considerably. The Chrysalis itself would be made of timber and steel and could be used as retail or office space, or extra residential space.

THESE COMPANIES GENEROUSLY SUPPORT THE PGB MISSION; PROVIDE ABUNDANT, NO-COST, AND OBJECTIVE INFORMATION CONCERNING THE STRATEGIES, SYSTEMS, AND PRODUCTS OF HIGH PERFORMANCE COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS AND MULTI-FAMILY RESIDENCES